PUL

Lagan Village

Extramural Activity1 Comment

In the 1860s, Ballymacarrett, Mount Pottinger, and Lagan Village, all on the east side of the Lagan, were not a part of Belfast (Lennon-Wylie). Lagan Village stretched from where Hutchinsons car dealership now is down to the modern Park Parade, just above Ormeau Park. In the 1880s Belfast expanded and Lagan Village Road became Ravenhill Road (NVTv). Ormeau Park opened in 1871 (WartimeNI). It did not then include the BMX track celebrated in this mural.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07255

Our Heroes Past And Present

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The heroes of the past are the soldiers of WWI and WWII (commemorated by the poppies growing in ACT Initiative‘s Shankill Road Community Garden, above, and in the 75th anniversary VE Day posters in Madrid Street, east Belfast, below); the present-day heroes are the doctors, nurses, and staff of the NHS, symbolised by the rainbow in both images.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07252 X07248

As The Stars Are Known To The Night

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

William McFadzean won a VC for sacrificing himself on the morning before the Battle Of The Somme (in WWI) and is commemorated in several murals. He shares a plaque here with “Vol W Miller”, who is perhaps the (modern UVF) volunteer Billy Miller from Donegall Pass who was killed in an RUC ambush in 1983 (Long Kesh I/O). The two names on the newer plaque are unknown on-line, perhaps having survived the Troubles and being recently deceased.

The title of today’s post comes from the Laurence Binyon poem For The Fallen.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07249 X07251 X07250 replaces the old Titanic mural in Ballarat St

Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamus

Extramural Activity1 Comment

“Pro tanto quid retribuamus” [What shall we give in return for so much] is the motto of Belfast, included in the coat of arms shown above and newly appropriate in the coronavirus pandemic. “Thank you to all our NHS staff and essential workers from the local Orange family. Together fighting Covid-19.” The banner is on the Clifton Street hall; King William III bestrides his horse and the horse bestrides the building.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07244 X07245

Resolve

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Support. Future. Community. Justice.” Resolve NI (Fb) is a community-based restorative justice group, based in east Belfast, focused on non-violent resolution and restoring community relationships (their offices were recorded previously). The mural is by Blaze FX (web | Fb) in Lord Street (at Beersbridge Rd), with sponsorship from Greenaway Auto Electrics (Fb) whose side wall the mural is on.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07212 X07211

You Know Full Well As I Do The Value Of Sisters’ Affections

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Students from Coláıste Feırste, from Beechmount, west Belfast (tw), and Ashfield Girls’ High School, from Sydenham, east Belfast (tw) were involved in the exhibition Idır Dhá Aıgne in Cultúrlann in 2014 and the two schools again combined their artistic talents to produce these five collages of inspirational women: Katie Taylor and Noelle Ryan (by students from Coláıste Feırste), and the Brontë sisters, Ellen Degeneres, and Rosa Parks (by students from Ashfield Girls’).

With sponsorship from the Northern Ireland Executive and Féıle An Phobaıl. The mural is on the shoulder of the “peace” line, where North Howard Street meets Cupar Way, between This World Isn’t Worth Your Soul and Sinn Feins Stradgey, and above A Dialogue On The Nature Of Art.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07217 X07218 X07219 X07233 X07220

Battle Of The Bug

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Flags are flying in east Belfast in preparation for this year’s marching season (and the 75th anniversary of VE Day. All seems normal but the coronavirus epidemic has meant the cancellation of many parades for this year’s Twelfth (which will be celebrated on Monday, the 13th) and a social media campaign to get people to stay at their homes and “let the band come to you” (Newsletter | Irish Times | BBC).

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07209 X07222 X07221

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Extramural Activity2 Comments

“Glentoran FC. Pride of Ulster.” Two examples from the Glentoran sticker campaign in the early months of the year, before coronavirus put and end to the season and the players on furlough. See previously Le Coq Sportif.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07207 X07205 X07206 albertbridge rd smiths

Harland House

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Still in the window of Harland House (Templemore Avenue, east Belfast) two years after the World Cup, Union Flag and IFA bunting and a ‘Deutschland’ scarf. NI did not qualify, Germany did not make it to the knock-out stage, and England lost to Croatia in the semis.

It’s not known what the connection to Edward Harland (of Harland & Wolff) is – please get in touch.

Click image again to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07210